MUSIC: MY FREEDOM to Play Off-Broadway at The Tank, 2/8-3/3

MUSIC: MY FREEDOM will play a limited off-Broadway run at The Tank, Feb. 8- March 3, 2013. Six women from South Africa and the United States will sing, unamplified and A cappella, the music that makes them feel free and joyous in the intimate 62 seat Playroom Theater.

MUSIC: MY FREEDOM is conceived and directed by Thuli Dumakude, who played the role of Rafiki for 27 months on Broadway in THE LION KING. "After ten years back in South Africa, I just wanted to sing in the presence of other women who use music, as I have, to heal the many wounds of life," commented Dumakude. "We are doing this naked, so to speak... no microphones and no instruments except the human voice."

The music will range from traditional South African township songs, sung in Zulu, to inspirational American songs of the church and the civil rights movement as well as several songs from the great traditions of American storytelling and myth making.

MUSIC: MY FREEDOM will be performed by Debbie Carter, Thuli Dumakude, Brenda Fair, Ghanniyya Green, D.D.Sims and Silindile Sokutu. Among them they have over 130 years of experience in all forums of musical performances.

Produced by The Tank performance center for emerging artists and long time Broadway and off-Broadway producer, Eric Krebs, MUSIC: MY FREEDOM takes its form from the jazz jams that feature each performer individually as well as full company numbers where a great deal of tonal and harmonic improvisation leads to unexpected musical surprises.

"The form of South African music is much more improvisational than usual American performance," director Dumakude commented. We are following traditional notions of South African format with largely American voices and singers."

MUSIC: MY FREEDOM will perform Fridays through Sundays with occasional Mondays. Reservations may be made at rsvp@theplayroomtheater.com or 212 967-8278.

Founded in 2003, The Tank is a Manhattan based non-profit arts presenter. Curating across all disciplines, The Tank provides an artistic home to both new and established artists who are engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. Combining free performance space, subsidized rehearsal space, discounted ticket prices and promotional support; the Tank brings quality programming to a new generation of audience for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists. For more, visit thetanknyc.org.

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